Read/write channels in continuous media recording systems provide write precompensation to shift timing of individual write current transitions to compensate for shifts of the corresponding magnetic transitions in the recording medium that are caused by demagnetizing fields. The demagnetizing fields correspond to the particular data bits that are being recorded, and the channel maintains a short history of the data bits in, for example, a shift register. The channel uses the data contained in the shift register (e.g., a write precompensation register) to determine precompensation values that the channel applies to shift respective write current transitions before they are written to the media. The shifts in the recording media that are caused by associated demagnetizing fields then result in more evenly spaced magnetic transitions in the media.